Myths to Live by

Joseph Campbell became interested in mythology during his childhood in New York, when he read books about American Indians and frequently visited the American Museum of Natural History, where he was fascinated by the museum's collection of totem poles. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees at Columbia in 1925 and 1927 and went on to study medieval French and Sanskrit at the universities of Paris and Munich. After a period in California, where he encountered John Steinbeck and the biologist Ed Ricketts, he taught at the Canterbury School, then, in 1934, joined the literature department at Sarah Lawrence College, a post he retained for many years. During the 1940s and '50s, he helped Swami Nikhilananda to translate the Upanishads and The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The many books by Professor Campbell include The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The Flight of the Wild Gander, The Masks of God, and The Mythic Image. He edited The Portable Arabian Nights, The Portable Jung, and other works. He died in 1987.Campbell, Joseph is the author of 'Myths to Live by', published 1993 under ISBN 9780140194616 and ISBN 0140194614.